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3/6/15: Pittsburgh Penguins 5 Anaheim Ducks 2

Pittsburgh ContributionsD. Pouliot – stops a puck sliding into the Penguins zone and makes a one-touch pass to Malkin in the neutral zone (cont.), gets the puck from Comeau at center, dekes around a poke check by Fleischmann along the red line, carries the puck into the Ducks zone, then passes it to his right to Comeau entering the zoneE. Malkin – skates the puck back to the blue line, skates along the blue line to avoid Fleischmann, pulls back to the right side of the defensive zone, then makes a pass to Comeau at center iceB. Comeau – gets the puck at center ice facing the defensive zone and makes a little backhanded tap pass along the red line to Pouliot skating up (cont.), gets the puck from Pouliot as he enters the right side of the Ducks zone, skates halfway to the right faceoff dot, and unloads a slapshot that powers past Andersen’s glove

Anaheim FaultsT. Fleischmann – misses a lunging poke check attempt on Pouliot at center ice, which allows the Penguins to skate into the Ducks zone with a 3-on-2C. Fowler – drops too far back from Comeau and maintains poor gap coverage, allowing Comeau to rip a slapshot past Andersen

2nd Penguins Goal (Hornqvist), Even

Pittsburgh ContributionsS. Crosby – retrieves a faceoff win in the left circle of the Ducks zone along the left-side boards and knocks the puck down into the left corner for PerronD. Perron – gets the puck along the backboards below the goal line, cuts towards the left corner, then backhands the puck to open ice behind the netP. Hornqvist – skates down to the puck below the goal line to the right of the net with no opposition, then centers/shoots the puck from below the goal line towards Andersen, where it hits off of the inside of his blocker/stick and caroms in past him

Anaheim FaultsT. Fleischmann – doesn’t adjust to the defense pressuring Perron, so he allows Hornqvist to skate right past him to get the loose puck below the goal line and then doesn’t pressure or defend him with the puckF. Andersen – allows a bad angle goal by knocking the puck in on himself

Pittsburgh ContributionsI. Cole – retrieves the puck along the goal line in the Penguins zone and throws it up the left-side boards all the way to Hornqvist at center ice (cont.), one-times Martin’s pass from above the right circle towards the netP. Hornqvist – carries the puck into the left side of the Ducks zone and chips it forward into the left faceoff circle for Sutter (cont.), deflects Cole’s low one-timer from in front of the crease so it flies over Andersen’s left pad into the netB. Sutter – gets to the puck in the left faceoff circle, pulls up to the left-side boards, then passes it to Perron skating into the left circleD. Perron – takes the puck to the left corner, pulls up along the boards, and passes the puck back to Martin at the left pointP. Martin – holds the puck and then passes it to Cole above the right faceoff circle for a one-timer

Anaheim FaultsS. Despres – had just stepped on the ice after a slashing penalty expired, so he wasn’t able to get back into the play as the Penguins scored in a 5-on-4 situation

4th Penguins Goal (Malkin), Even

Pittsburgh ContributionsB. Comeau – pressures Thompson behind the Ducks net and pokes the puck away from him along the backboards back to KunitzC. Kunitz – gets the puck, pulls back away from Thompson behind the net, and skates to the right side of the net below the goal line, then passes the puck out to Malkin at the inside of the right faceoff circleE. Malkin – corrals the puck and fires a wrist shot that Andersen stops with his blocker, but the puck rolls over him, into the crease, and just across the goal line

Anaheim FaultsN. Thompson – gets the puck behind the Ducks net after Kunitz falls with it, but he doesn’t play it quickly enough and loses it when Comeau poke checks it from himP. Maroon – doesn’t adjust to how the Penguins are rotating in the offensive zone, so he doesn’t skate to the open man (Malkin) as he just watches the play develop and ends up too far away to defend him from shootingF. Andersen – didn’t get completely square to Malkin, so he stopped the shot but not cleanly, allowing it to roll over him and into the net

1st Ducks Goal (Fleischmann), Even

Anaheim ContributionsC. Fowler – gets his stick on Lapierre’s attempted pass in the Ducks zone, sending the puck to the boards towards FleischmannT. Fleischmann – gets the puck along the boards, skates out of the left side of the Ducks zone, pulls the puck back from a poke check by Lovejoy at center ice, then centers the puck for Silfverberg in the neutral zone (cont.), picks up the puck after Silfverberg drops it, then takes a wrist shot from the high slot that goes through Silfverberg’s legs, off of the glove of Greiss, and falls into the netJ. Silfverberg – carries the puck into the middle of the Penguins zone, drops it as Fleischmann skates in behind him, and continues skating into the slot as he puts his stick on Pouliot’s and then pushes Pouliot’s right skate to knock him off balance, which keeps both Pouliot and Lovejoy back and creates room for Fleischmann

Pittsburgh FaultsM. Lapierre – tries to pass the puck to Adams in the offensive zone, but has it broken up by Fowler for a turnoverT. Greiss – reaches up with his glove to stop Fleischmann’s shot, but knocks the puck up in the air so it falls behind him and into the net

2nd Ducks Goal (Perry), Even

Anaheim ContributionsR. Rakell – stops Scuderi’s attempt to play the puck up the boards along the right-side boards and knocks the puck back to the right corner for Etem (cont.), gets the puck from Etem, skates to the bottom of the right circle, then tries to make a pass to the left circle that goes off of Hornqvist in the slot and bounces directly to Perry at the bottom of the left faceoff circleE. Etem – protects the puck against the boards as Scuderi pushes him, then passes the puck behind him to Rakell skating along the bottom outside corner of the right faceoff circleC. Perry – one-times the puck past Greiss before he has any chance to adapt to the bad bounce

Pittsburgh FaultsR. Scuderi – gets the puck in the right corner of the Penguins zone and chips it up off the boards weakly, so it doesn’t get past Rakell, who knocks it back to the corner for a turnoverP. Hornqvist – breaks up Rakell’s attempted pass to Fowler, but ends up accidentally knocking the puck to Perry for an easy goal

5th Penguins Goal (Crosby), Even

Pittsburgh ContributionsR. Scuderi – gets a loose puck that was knocked to the bottom of the faceoff circle in the Penguins zone off of the faceoff and throws it behind the Penguins net for LetangK. Letang – gets the puck and chips it up the boards to SutterB. Sutter – flips the puck into the air to center ice for Crosby in the neutral zoneS. Crosby – gets positioning on Silfverberg, knocks the puck down in the air with his stick, gets past Silfverberg entering the left side of the Ducks zone with an empty net, skates to the crease, and knocks the puck in for an empty netter

Anaheim FaultsJ. Silfverberg – tries to hit Crosby in the neutral zone as the puck arrives in the air, but he loses his balance instead and lets Crosby get the puck with an open lane to the net